Commitment and Common Sense
Leading Education Reform in Massachusetts

David P. Driscoll

Commitment and Common Sense tells the inside story of how Massachusetts became a national model for education. Twelve years after the passage of the state’s comprehensive education reform law in 1993, Bay State student scores rose to the top of “the nation’s report card” (the National Assessment of Educational Progress) in fourth- and eighth-grade reading and math—and have stayed there ever since.

How were state leaders able to raise student achievement to such levels and maintain them? Are there leadership lessons for others now that the spotlight on improvements in education has returned to the states under the Every Student Succeeds Act?

David P. Driscoll, the man put in charge of implementing the Massachusetts Education Reform Act just days after it was signed, provides answers to both questions in this provocative insider account of the key events leading up to, through, and following this pivotal period.

This book is full of lively anecdotes and wisdom born from experience in the trenches of education politics at local, state, and national levels. Driscoll offers unique insights for current and future education leaders interested in learning more about the keys to Massachusetts’s success and understanding of the power of state policy to effect change.

Praise

In Commitment and Common Sense, Driscoll shares important insights into the fundamentals of Massachusetts’s success. It’s a must-read for those seeking education progress in the United States.
— Rod Paige, US Secretary of Education, 2001–2005

Progress in our nation’s schools has never been more dependent on the quality of state leadership than it is today, in the era of ESSA. At the same time, our polarized politics has made thoughtful leadership in government a rare commodity. David Driscoll uses the story of his extraordinary career to affirm that, given high expectations set by leaders willing to stand up for those expectations, American students can achieve at the highest levels.
— John White, state superintendent of education, Louisiana

Commitment and Common Sense guides readers along the Herculean path to thoughtful education reform. This is an essential primer for leaders looking to address the challenges of sustained success in teacher development and student learning.
— Lillian M. Lowery, vice president for P–12 policy, research, and practice at The Education Trust, and former secretary of education, Delaware

The book tells it like it is. It is an authentic, at times funny, always compelling account of how this landmark comprehensive policy reform was shaped and implemented.
— Marc Tucker, Education Week

Driscoll is a master teacher, and Commitment and Common Sense is his seminar on leadership and practical advice to public leaders who want to master the fine art of balancing 'the policy of the law with the realities on the ground.'
— John Schneider, CommonWealth Magazine

David P. Driscoll’s new book Commitment and Common Sense offers a lot of what current education policy discussions lack—wisdom.
— Jay P. Greene, Education Next